Matias Duarte, the man formerly in charge of the mobile user interface at Palm, has been hired by Google. AllThingsD reports that Duarte, who lead the development team behind webOS UI, has moved over to Google’s Mountain View headquarter.

Nice. Nice.

I was a fan of webOS as a platform but obviously was more driven to Android. Maybe a little bit of the slickness that went into webOS’s design will trickle down to Android now that one of its driving forces is now under the Google umbrella. Don’t flame me, I just think the Pre’s software and interface looked good (not that Android’s doesn’t as well, but it never hurts to spruce up the trees in the garden).

Google have not confirmed Duarte’s title. However, Duarte worked at Helio and Sidekick-maker Danger prior to joining Palm, so it’s safe to say that his role at Google will involve the mobile sector.

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Duarte will be the new User Experience Director for Android.